Utility surveillance specialist Helicentre Aviation has become the first UK helicopter operator to achieve a CEMARS award, so certifying its compliance with the ISO 14069 greenhouse gas accounting standard.

Managing director Captain Sarah Bowen says: "We are delighted to be the first in the UK industry to have achieved the award. It reinforces our commitment to protecting the environment by managing and reducing our greenhouse emissions, while also delivering a quality service to our clients."

Senior management within Helicentre Aviation took the first steps in measurement of carbon output in early 2011 when industry reports suggested that the future requirements for carbon measuring would soon be filtered down to medium and small operators. Since these requirements were already in place for a vast majority of the company's clients, it was a natural progression to work towards CEMARS accreditation.

An interim trial revealed that through careful financial and operational analysis, the true costing for fuel burn on a 'per aircraft' basis could be monitored effectively. The introduction of the carbon reduction scheme has demonstrated huge benefits financially and from a safety and environmental perspective, the company says.

The carbon reduction scheme was specifically designed by the company's safety team, led by safety manager Captain Steve O'Brien in conjunction with sub-contractor Achilles. The scheme has formed an integral part of the company's safety management system. "The measurement element of the scheme allows us to report individually to our clients an independently verified annual carbon emission," says O'Brien. "We achieved CEMARS based on our operational carbon footprint for the year 2011-2012 and our key target over the coming years is a five per cent increase in fuel efficiency. This will not only help us manage our impact on the environment but will also lead to cost savings for our clients."

CEMARS, or certified emissions measurement and reduction scheme, certification is essentially the first two steps of carboNZero certification; measure and manage. These two steps are independently verified then certified. This scheme is developed for large organisations or large emitting industries where offsetting is not a viable option or they wish to take a measured approach and further gauge the cost/benefit of striving to be carbon neutral.